Trials Aren't Strange

Welcome to God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in Morning Sun, Iowa. Check us out online at www.sharonrpc.org. We pray that this message will be a blessing to you and that the Lord will use it to transform your faith and your life. Will you please turn in your Bibles with me to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter chapter 4, and this morning we'll be looking at verses 12 through, we'll read 12 through 15, but the sermon will come from 12 through 14. 1 Peter chapter 4, you'll be able to find that on page 1078 if you're using the New King James View Bibles. You're now the reading of God's perfect word.

11. Do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you, but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you. for you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

Prayer for Illumination

Well, in the reading of God's word there, the grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. And we pray that your spirit would be working in our hearts this morning. Father, that it would not just go in one ear and out the other. that it wouldn't fall on hard hearts. O Lord, we pray that your Holy Spirit would bury it in our hearts, that we might learn, live, and love to your glory. In Jesus's name, amen.

Sermon

I was talking to a pastor a while ago and he's in another country. And as he was describing to me a time of persecution that had arisen in their country, talked about the hostility that he was enduring. And he could tell that my face betrayed me because I looked extremely concerned about him. And I was pretty surprised by the things that he was telling me was happening to him in their country. And he looked at me kind of oddly.

And he just could tell, he said, Brian, Jesus said we were going to suffer. Don't be surprised about this. And I think we live in this American bubble where we might feel a little bit uncomfortable at times about our faith, but I think sometimes we're, actually what Peter's saying here in verse 12, we kind of think it's strange. that we might suffer for our faith. But that's not the case. We should actually anticipate it. Our natural response to suffering is surprise, maybe even discouragement, and for some people, it even leads to doubt. If we're honest with ourselves, we want, in this life, comfort, security, happiness, And so suffering shakes that from us.

But I thank God that he's honest with his people. Because when Peter wrote this to the people of what's now modern day Turkey, within just a few years, there was going to be a major uprise where the governor of that land would arrest Christians and even torture them to find out about their faith and punish them as criminals. What a blessing this letter must have been to those people to assure them that this was the plan of God. And so likewise it does for us.

The natural response to trials and suffering is shock and surprise, but those who are in Christ, for us these trials produce joy, because they bring us into a deeper relationship with Jesus. And so the truth I'm hoping that you'll go home with today that I think is rooted in these few verses, 12 through 14, is that we are to be filled with gospel courage by fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is our joy. We get gospel courage by fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is our joy. So first, Strange things are happening, or what some people might consider strange things. Look with me at verse 12. Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you.

There's this word strange, it's literally, so we hear this in the news sometimes, right, the word xenophobia, right? Fear of the foreigner. Well, the word foreigner there is actually stranger, right? And so strange is both something that's unusual outside of our normal environment. And the word strange here is what he pointed to in verse four. Chapter 4 verse 4. What did he say?

The Gentiles would think it was strange in regard to these They think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation Speaking evil of you, right? There's there's two different nations two different peoples strangers to each other The Gentiles are looking at the Christians saying dude you guys got weird and now God is saying to the Christians Don't think it's weird. Don't think it's strange. Don't think it's foreign You may suffer when they think that you're strange weird or foreign.

Peter flips things on its head and he ties us back together with the idea of suffering and purification when he says that we are being tried through a fiery trial. That's that furnace of sanctification that he talked about in chapter one. For the Christian suffering is not random. but it's a part of God's plan for his people. But there are going to be people, understandably so, who will say, but I thought when I come to Christianity, I thought my life, things were supposed to get easier for me. Not fiery trials. What's this stuff you guys are talking about? Well, the reality is Christ never promised ease. He promised peace, but he didn't promise ease. He promises presence, He didn't promise prosperity in this life.

So why in the world would God allow his people to suffer? I was really helped by Joel Beakey on this topic this week as I was reading through one of his systematic volumes. He gives nine different reasons why God allows his people to suffer. First, suffering that God uses humbles believers deeply. It shows us our dependence on God and reveals our own inadequacies.

Secondly, suffering exposes believers' sins. The school of the cross reveals hidden sins and leads us to repentance. Why else does God allow suffering to happen? Well, thirdly, it purges believers' corruption. Like refining gold, suffering sanctifies us and makes us more like Christ.

Fourthly, suffering draws believers near to God. Affliction drives us to seek God more earnestly. Fifthly, suffering conforms believers to Christ. We're shaped by our sufferings as Christians by the Spirit more and more to the image of Christ. Sixthly, suffering expands believers' joy. Now, that seems odd. But suffering expands our joy.

Joy comes through trials because they lead to deeper fellowship with God. Seventhly, suffering increases believers' faith. Suffering for the Christian may lead to times in which even you read Psalmist, why, oh Lord, are these things happening? Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?

One of my favorite things about the Psalms is their honesty. And yet one of the beautiful things of the Psalms is why my soul are you so downcast? And they'll start with these dirges and sad things. And then by the time you get to the end of the Psalm, almost all of them, what has the Psalmist reminded themselves of? Who God is and where their joy abides.

So suffering increases believers faith. because we live not by sight. Eighthly, suffering also weans believers from this world. Suffering teaches us to set our hope on heaven rather than earthly comforts here. Beaky lastly points out ninth, suffering prepares believers for their heavenly inheritance. He's preparing us for our heavenly inheritance. reminding us that the glory of this life is nothing to be compared to the glory which awaits for us in heaven. Sometimes, you can imagine Christianity being like you enlisted into the military.

And I mean, I actually I was in Muscatine not too long ago, and there was a poster on their community board from my favorite people, U.S. Navy recruiters. And it was go see the world, college scholarships, you know, all these amazing things. And you can get stationed in Hawaii and Guam and San Diego. And I thought, oh, they didn't mention Norfolk, Virginia. But the point being, right. All these promises, but you can imagine if somebody thought, oh, this is going to be great. I get to have friends. I get to see the world. This is going to be wonderful.

And they know nothing about the military. And then they show up at boot camp. They don't even show up at boot camp. They get on the bus and they're immediately getting screamed at. Thank God, God didn't give us a bait and switch. We're not surprised when these fiery trials happen. We know what we enlisted into. We know whose camp we're a part of.

And so don't be caught off guard when trials come. Expect them. Don't be paranoid about it, but expect them. It's part of your plan or God's plan in your life. It's refining work he's doing in you. It's not good enough just for me to tell you what that suffering is going to be. I want to tell you what you should do in that suffering.

And that's rejoice in Christ. Secondly, rejoice in the sufferings of Christ. Look with me at verse 13. but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." Again, this is really interesting. But rejoice. Suffer, but rejoice. Suffer, and do not count it strange when that suffering comes, but rejoice."

So this is on the other hand. So what does this mean? And when do you suffer and how do you suffer? Well, notice there's an extent. To the extent that, that's actually all one little four letter word in Greek, katho. To the degree of. To the degree that something is true. What's the degree that something is true of that you can rejoice in? what must be directly tied to the suffering of Christ.

We share, or as the New King James translation puts it here, partake of Christ's suffering. That word for partake is a word we get our word communion or fellowship from, koinonia. It means we participate in, we have a deep bond with Christ. This means that Christ's suffering is not random, but it is a participation in what Christ himself endured. We're not just suffering randomly, but we're suffering in Christ.

Paul uses a similar language in Philippians 3.10, when he says he longs for the fellowship of his sufferings. I don't know about you, but I've not often thought about how I long to suffer with Christ. But that's the way the Bible talks about it. So what are these Christian sufferings? What are these Christ's sufferings?

They're not just any trials in life. I just want to put that out there, right? It's not saying, and I'm not minimizing this here, it's not saying that sickness, financial hardship, natural disasters, those types of things, That's, I don't, I'm convinced that's not actually what this is talking about. Those are real sufferings. Those are real hard providences in your life.

But I think this is being qualified in first Peter four by suffering the suffering of Christ. These are the sufferings that come from identification with Jesus Christ. These often look like persecution. Rejection, slander, trials, specifically because of faith in Christ. Losing family members, losing jobs, being looked down upon. I was just out of curiosity this morning. I went to, we prayed for early reign covenant church in China who got five years ago disbanded by the communist government in a raid and has been harassed and persecuted for the last five years.

And even in December, the last update that was put out, it's still happening. I'm not sure if you've ever experienced this, but this is what's going on with our brothers and sisters in China. There's a deacon in that church. They're not even meeting in person anymore. It's just all online stuff, just praying with each other and meeting online. And for that, the government came in and turned off the breaker to the guy's house.

Another elder taken off to prison, suffering for the sake of Christ. Don't think it's strange when these things happen. This is both external affliction, this opposition from the world, but I'm convinced it's also the internal struggle, the internal suffering that comes with the pain of living, longing for that glory, even as we used to be in this habit, we got out of it, where we used to pray for those Christians, even in jail today. There are thousands and thousands and thousands of Christians in jail today for their faith. And I'm sure they suffer internally as they fight for joy. I say, long for the comfort of Christ. But I know one of the things I said might ruffle against you a little bit, right?

You might say, well, can't all suffering be called sharing in Christ's sufferings? Well, no, I don't think so. And we're gonna, I'm gonna defend this a little bit more in verse 15, when he says that we're not gonna suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, a busybody, things like that. So not all suffering, right?

Because some suffering, if we're honest with ourselves, It's self-inflicted. Sometimes we suffer because, well, I know I do, because I do dumbheaded things. Sometimes we suffer because we're sinners. So not all suffering is sharing in Christ's suffering. The key distinction is why are you suffering? Are you suffering because of Christ? Or is this suffering simply a part of living in a broken world? I think the suffering that Peter here is talking about is the suffering because of Christ. Or you might ask, why should suffering be a source of joy, right? The command is in verse 13, but rejoice, but rejoice. How can you have a command to rejoice?

Because those who suffer in Christ, this is one of my favorite things about talking to pastors who are overseas. There's lots of that that's very difficult, but one of the things that's so encouraging to me is that I get to see their faith in action as I pray with them. And I'm always somewhat shocked and concerned about the suffering they have. And they're like, no, brother, this is great. The Lord is doing these things. And yeah, it's hard.

I don't like when I'll walk down the street and somebody will spit in my face, but it's for Christ. And I can go to Christ and I can know that this is for him. And I know that my work is meaningful for the gospel. because Jesus said it was going to happen.

We're not greater than our master, but also there's a promise. If he was glorified, so will we. It might seem a little bit odd to us. How do we rejoice? Well, we look past the suffering. Romans 8.17 tells us, if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him. The Lord knows when you suffer for Him and He's glorified in it and it's marked. Suffering's not an end in itself, it's a means to greater joy because it proves our connection to Christ and prepares us for glory. There's another military type illustration I'd love to give you here. about the difference in suffering.

You can imagine there's two different soldiers and one soldier, he's on the battlefield and then he's there and he's clearing his weapon. And as he clears his weapon, his finger slips and he shoots himself in the leg. He's gonna suffer because of that wound. It's going to hurt. He may even get a purple heart because that's what happens.

But we are able to recognize that there's a categorical difference between that type of suffering and the soldier who will run in front of a comrade and take a bullet for his friend to save his life. And we know there's a different type of glory for that. A different type of glory for suffering for someone else and with someone else.

I think that's the type of suffering that Peter is talking about here. So examine your suffering. Are you suffering as a Christian? Or if you're like me too often, it's because of sin, foolishness, and your own bad decisions. Just living in a broken world.

But if it is for Christ, we need to reframe our suffering from trials we want to get out of to something God is using for our good and for his glory. Rejoice. with the perspective that to the extent that we partake in the sufferings of Christ, that there's glory to be had. But I need to warn you, alluded to this a little bit in verse 13, there's counterfeit joys, there's counterfeit rewards, there's counterfeit enjoyments. Look with me at verse 13. but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings, that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy." The same word in the first part of verse 13 is said again here, right?

That we may be glad. Rejoice and glad are the same word in the Greek. Y'all need to rejoice, command, Why? That when his glory is revealed, you may also rejoice with exceeding joy. This is a joy that goes beyond circumstances. We're so tempted to want happiness, and our happiness is dependent on our circumstances. But God is calling us to a deeper heart joy. A joy that cannot be shaken, that humanly speaking, seems very different than human happiness. We seek joy. You were redeemed by God for joy. And not just a little bit. Not just like, you know, we take communion, right? And you just get that little tiny cup. No, you get the whole cup.

That when His glory is revealed, you may be glad with exceeding joy. God isn't stingy with you. He is producing in you a heart that longs for the coming of the glory of Jesus Christ when He will be revealed again. And when your joy will be realized, when you will see your Savior face to face, and you will rejoice with exceedingly great joy.

Do you long for that type of joy? Do you long for the day when Jesus Christ will be revealed? That when his glory is revealed, when his radiant majesty, when his weightiness, when his splendor, when his kingdom is revealed, when Jesus comes back and the trumpet is blown, do you long for that great day to see your King face to face? This is why one of the questions we ask you in your membership vows, right? Do you desire to give your account with joy at the last great day?

How do you think of Jesus? Do you think of him as a judge that you're not sure whether or not he's going to accept you on the last great day? That he might say, you know what, nevermind, you're not actually mine, down to the eternal pit you go. Or is Jesus Christ your only hope in life and death? Is he your joy?

Movie I really like came out a while ago. The Pursuit of Happiness. I think that's the title of it and will smith in it and and the whole idea is right is is a single dad in there in abject poverty and he's trying to care for his son and there's the whole idea he's trying to work can picking up stuff up from the bootstraps and do everything you can to provide a solid house and a loving place for a sunday grow with security. And there's this idea that there's two things going on at the same time, right?

He's trying to pursue happiness and happiness looks like saving his family, but it also looks like he needs, what's the kind of the sub plot underneath it is and how will he get that happiness? He'll get it by becoming wealthy. What would happen if he never got wealthy? What happened if he made all the phone calls and no sales? Happiness flies away like a bird in the air, but joy is like gold in your heart that no one can take away.

Your suffering is real. Your suffering is real, but your joy, but your joy is that much more real. Calvin and his institutes, this is a little bit longer quote, but stick with me on it. Writing about suffering, Calvin says this, Yet such a cheerfulness is not required of us as to remove all feeling of bitterness and pain." Did you hear it?

This isn't saying when you go through your suffering, when you have bitterness and pain, you don't just put on a fake smile. That's not what Peter's saying here. Otherwise, the cross would be no forbearance of the saints unless they were tormented by pain and anguish, by trouble. If there were no harshness in poverty, no torment in disease, no sting in disgrace, no dread in death, what fortitude or moderation would there be in bearing with indifference?

But since each of these, with an inborn bitterness by its very nature, bites the heart of us all, the fortitude of the believing man is brought to light if, tried by the feelings of such bitterness. However grievously he is troubled with it, yet valiantly resisting still surmounts it. Here his forbearance reveals itself. If sharply pricked, he is still restrained by the fear of God from breaking into any intemperate act. Here his cheerfulness shines, If wounded by sorrow and grief, he rests in the spiritual consolation of God.

Your pain when you suffer for Christ is real. The bite hurts. But what's valiant is in the face of that, in the face of that hurt, going to Christ and remembering your joy and forbearing it for God's glory. Money can't give you everlasting joy. Comfort will be fleeting. Security you cannot guarantee. Relationships will be hard and falter. And your status may go up and it may go down. You cannot find your ultimate joy in those things. What Christian are you finding your ultimate joy in? Is it in the one that you have not seen and yet you love?

It must be in Christ. He is the substance of our faith and of our joy. Examine the source of joy. Lift up your eyes to Christ's return. Don't be fooled by counterfeit joys. Because remember what Jesus has promised us. You're blessed if you're slandered for his name's sake. That's our fourth point. Bless. We are blessed to be slandered for the name of Jesus. Look with me at the first part of verse 14.

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you. That's what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. The Christians Peter's writing to, that's what they would suffer. People would take the name of Jesus and would say they follow Jesus. They're Christians. And because of that, they're guilty of all sorts of evils and sins. They would be slandered against and lied against. They would suffer. Some of them would even die. For the name of Jesus. For the name of Christ. The suffering isn't because they're rude. The suffering isn't because they're foolish. The suffering wasn't because they're sinful. It's suffering because they belong to Jesus.

Again, I know often I might conflate the two, right? I might think, oh, I'm suffering for Jesus, when in reality, sometimes we suffer because we're kind of jerks with how prideful we are in our words and our attitudes. But that's not what Peter's talking about here. And indeed, Christians today still face this type of persecution, both outrightly as well with societal rejection.

Blessed are you. It's not just a sentiment, but it's an objective reality. God's favor rests upon those who suffer for the name of Christ. Even if you suffer for righteousness sake, you are blessed is what God had told us in chapter three, verse 14. I know it doesn't seem like a blessing. It may even seem like it's not pleasant because it's not pleasant to suffer for Christ. It's not gonna be fun. It's not gonna be easy.

Actually, one of the things that I'm very thankful for is before our denomination will send someone to the mission field, They'll actually try to weed certain guys out. Specifically, this is something that I've found in young men, is there's almost this, not just like, I'm willing to go and suffer for Christ, but almost like, I'm looking to go and die as a martyr. We're not looking to send people who want to die as martyrs, but people who are willing to go share the gospel. And if that happens, that's fine. They're willing to accept those consequences. but I can't soften the blow for you. I cannot say that you get the blessing without the mocking.

That's the primary way in which we face it here in America. Even if you are kind, even if you are gentle, even if you are winsome, even if you are trying to bear it out in friendships, don't be surprised if people say that's good enough for you, but it's not for me. And you know what? Why don't you just never talk to me about that again?

And it may feel like a personal wound. And they may even talk bad about you behind your back. They may call you a Bible thumper. They may say that you are pushy with them. So be it. Like we talked about last time, there's an inherent offense in the gospel. I don't want to water it down for you. I don't want to soften it for you because this happens.

So where are you tempted? I think all of us have faced this before. Where are you tempted in your life to hide the name of Christ? Because you don't want the stigma of what it means to follow Christ. Are there times you've had the opportunity to share your faith with someone, but you were afraid? We've all been there. We've all regretted those times.

I wanna encourage you this morning. I don't wanna guilt trip you or shame you or browbeat you. I wanna encourage you. Learn from that. Don't be surprised when it happens. Confess it to the Lord, repent, and pray that the Spirit will give you more strength and more courage to face that reproach for the sake of Christ. Don't hide your faith. Don't be ashamed of identifying with Christ. Stand firmly.

But you won't be able to do this if your joy is in anything other than Christ. If your joy isn't in Christ, you're going to want to just hide it. But you know what it's like to run into those Christians that their joy is so much in Christ, it's like they can't help but tell people about him.

Because the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rests on you. That's the last part of verse 14. The last part that I want to talk about. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you for the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rests upon you. There's a reason for our joy and there's a reason for our suffering. Blessed are you. For the Spirit of Christ is with you, the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God.

As far as I know, this is one of the only places that phrase is used in the Bible, the Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God. Pulls us back to Isaiah 11, verse two, where the Spirit rests upon the Messiah. That's the only other time that this phrase is used. The same Spirit that rested upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, the same Spirit that rests upon you. The Spirit of glory and the Spirit of God.

It may not feel like God's with you or His Spirit is with you when you suffer, but do you know what the other name for this Holy Spirit is that Jesus gives? The Comforter. If you never suffer, why would you need to be comforted? And how will the comforter come unless you need to be comforted, unless you suffer? This is the ministry of God's word to you. It's not about our feelings. It's what about what God is doing in us by his spirit and the history of the church, of the saints who have gone before us, bear witness. That this is what happens when the Holy Spirit comes upon people who are suffering.

One of my favorite stories is Polycarp. Old dude. Man, he's old when he's ready to die. I know some of you are just about this age. Polycarp died in 155. The Romans tried to get him to deny Christ, and this is what he said. Eighty and six years I have served him. and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my king who saved me? Do you see the spirit was resting upon Polycarp? He knew how to love his king because his king had loved him. How could he speak poorly against him?

If you're mocked, if you're slandered, if you suffer for your sake, Know that it's at that moment the Holy Spirit ministers unto you. Cry out to God for help because you're never alone in your suffering. It means that God is glorifying himself in your endurance under trials and temptations.

So brothers and sisters, fix your eyes on Jesus Christ. Be filled with gospel courage by fixing your eyes on Jesus, your joy. Don't be surprised when suffering comes. Rejoice. Rejoice in your suffering by looking to Jesus and don't let counterfeit joys try to steal your joy away. Suffer for Christ's name because it's a blessing. And know that the Spirit is with you when you suffer. Take heart. Suffer now. Suffer well. Suffer with Christ for Christ. Two last stories and then we'll end this.

Acts chapter five. The apostles go into the temple. Holy Spirit has come. They had deserted Christ. All of them had deserted Christ before the crucifixion. And now just a few chapters later in the Bible, if you flip through your pages, you would find in Acts chapter five, they're speaking about Jesus in the temple, even though the high priest had told them not to, and had already put them in prison. And they go to prison again, suffering for Jesus. And what is their response coming out of prison? They praise God that they have been counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ.

And you just flip over two pages and you get to Acts chapter seven. And he finds Stephen, a newly elected and ordained deacon. And as they throw stones at him, he looks up into heaven and he sees the Son of God sitting at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And the Bible says that his face shone like an angel. He knew where his joy was even as he suffered, testifying about Jesus, suffering for Jesus and with Jesus. The apostles were just people like you and like me. And they had the same Holy Spirit that God promises you in your suffering. So look to Jesus, suffer for the glory of God because His Spirit is with you.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. God, we thank you that suffering is only temporary. Lord, we long for the glorious return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus. We long for a joy that is eternal, when we will be with you forever, when you will wipe every tear from our eye. Lord, when our joy will be before us, And even though we may want to cry, there will be no tears. For the day of joy, the eternal day of joy will have come. So Lord, we pray that you would please help us look to this day of glory. Lord, we pray that we would look forward to seeing the one whom we love face to face.

God, give us your spirit, comfort us. and give us strength to endure even as we suffer for the name of Christ now. Thank you for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural Southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.